Would it be reasonable to ask a High School...

[Guest55]

I'm sure you'll be delighted to know that schools can let ill children sit the KS2 tests (they are not SATS) up to five days (I think) late this year.

[Amber]

I'm sure you'll be delighted to know that schools can let ill children sit the KS2 tests (they are not SATS) up to five days (I think) late this year.

A great incentive for any child to rise up from its sick bed as quickly as possible, I'm sure.

[Looking for help]

You miss my point entirely, Caroline. I am shocked that you think it's ok for your son to be so dismissive of his school work at primary. I am shocked that you think so little of it. SATS have been here for a very long time, love them or loathe them they are a benchmark of comparison from school to school across the country.

Your context, Caroline is not clear - I understand that you wouldn't want your child to come to school if he is unwell, but to say that you don't care about SATS is something completely different.
I don't particularly care about SATS either, I am just mindful that that is how the curriculum works nowadays, and I value some form of comparison tool, otherwise how am I going to know which school is performing well ? I could obviously trawl through ofsted reports and get a feel for the place by visiting, but if I have no information that lets me know that my superclever 4 year old comes out at the end of year 6 with less than expected results, I am going to be very unhappy with the school, in the same way as I will be very unhappy should my teenager leave secondary with less than expected progress from 11 to 18.

[Rob Clark]

This may sound counter-intuitive, but in Bucks SATs are more important to the children who don't pass the 11+ than to those who do. The GSs take very little notice of them and in most cases conduct their own baseline tests early in Y7 before doing any setting. However, to be eligible to take the 12+ you do (in most cases) need to have your level 5 SATs from Y6.

I have no idea what DS got in his SATs as he had already secured a GS place. However, we 'encouraged' DD to work hard for them so that she at least had the option of sitting the 12+ should she wish to do so. Obviously my earlier post was a little tongue in cheek, but this is the real reason - to answer Amber's question - why I know how a fair proportion of DD's friends got on - because it is a major talking point in the first term at upper school.

This may only apply in Bucks, but it does show you how SATs results can be affected by a number of other factors.

[Looking for help]

It was also very important to us, and I dug out my older children's results when my youngest did them. He actually had the best SATs results, the others had all faltered on one of the English tests - can't remember for now which one. My youngest having not passed the 11+ had 5 in all papers (As in Maths and Science , lower than that but 5 in both papers of the English), which at least proved to me (fool that I am) that I wasn't barking up the wrong tree

In Berks, it was not possible to take a 12+, but still.....

I stand by what I say though that it is important to have something to measure schools by, and in the absence of anything else to compare they are valuable for that reason only.

I also would never suggest to my child that something they were doing at school was pointless, unless of course it is doing that poster homework stuff they get from year 3 right through to year 9 when the teacher cba to give them anythiing else, apologies for unintentional upset caused to all teachers

[willow_catkin]

I am with Caroline - my DCs school does not do SATS but if they were at a school that did I would withdraw them on SATS day(s) anyway as I do not agree with them.

Schools are about so much more than league tables and I know how my children are progressing

[Caroline1852]

It was also very important to us, and I dug out my older children's results when my youngest did them. He actually had the best SATs results, the others had all faltered on one of the English tests - can't remember for now which one. My youngest having not passed the 11+ had 5 in all papers (As in Maths and Science , lower than that but 5 in both papers of the English), which at least proved to me (fool that I am) that I wasn't barking up the wrong tree

In Berks, it was not possible to take a 12+, but still.....

I stand by what I say though that it is important to have something to measure schools by, and in the absence of anything else to compare they are valuable for that reason only.

I also would never suggest to my child that something they were doing at school was pointless, unless of course it is doing that poster homework stuff they get from year 3 right through to year 9 when the teacher cba to give them anythiing else, apologies for unintentional upset caused to all teachers

Grrr. SATs results aren't a means of 'measuring' the school. Sorry but I do think SATs are pointless for the child. I have no idea if they're of benefit to teachers, I v much doubt it. Far too many childrenagave received a reductive education, thanks to the influence of SATs. It would be much better if the CEM MIdYis project was extended to primary schools, and schools were measured on the difference between the entry and exit values of the cohort: so you could see what the school's influence had been rather than what calibre of child they had in their cohort. MidYis is wonderfully unobtrusive and v useful.

SATs have been v bad for primary education. People must be gullible to believe they're in any way useful.

[Belinda]

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[Looking for help]

People must be gullible to believe they're in any way useful.

Ok we'll have to agree to disagree, however I'm anything but gullible..

[Caroline1852]

My sister did pull her DD out of school (KS2) for the week; nearly a decade ago. The school didn't (dare) question her which says something about my sister!

Fully comprehensive secondary schooling county and no question which secondary she'd have got into.

I need lessons from her.